Optical computing devices, also commonly referred to as “opticoanalytical devices.” can be used to analyze and monitor the properties of a substance in real time. Such optical computing devices will often employ a processing element that optically interacts with the substance to determine quantitative and/or qualitative values of one or more physical or chemical properties of the substance. The processing element may include multilayered interference elements designed to operate over a continuum of wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum from the UV to mid-infrared (MIR) ranges, or any sub-set of that region. One type of processing element is an integrated computational element (ICE), also known as a multivariate optical element (MOE). Electromagnetic radiation that optically interacts with the ICE is modified to be readable by a detector such that an output of the detector can be correlated to the physical or chemical characteristic of the substance being analyzed.
Multilayered optical interference based elements can exhibit inefficiencies in optical transmission at wavelengths of interest. Also, multilayered optical interference based elements may exhibit transmission at wavelengths where complete blockage (zero transmission) is desirable. Further, the spectral resolution of multilayered optical interference based elements may be less optimal due to irregularities at the boundaries between adjacent layers and layer thickness fabrication errors. These deleterious factors combine to reduce the accuracy and predictive power of the ICE resulting from the multi-layer optical interference based element.
In the figures, elements having the same or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar function, or step, unless otherwise noted.